First Century B.C. Roman politician/philosopher Cicero said once
that “gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent
of all others.”
Bishop Pablo Mora of the Methodist Church of Paraguay, and his
wife, Claudette, traveled more than 4,000 miles to the Bradford
area Sunday afternoon to say “thanks.”
The Moras came to the area to enjoy dinner with locals at the
Evans Memorial United Methodist Church in Lewis Run at 5 p.m., and
to participate in lenten services at the Custer City United
Methodist Church at 7 p.m.
Speaking with The Era as the Rev. David Stains, pastor of Evans
Memorial, translated, the Moras said they came to Bradford for two
reasons -ðto express thanks for the continued support from local
Methodist churches and to garner support for upcoming mission
projects back home.
The Moras have been entrenched in mission work in South America
for many years.
According to The Mission Society online, “Pablo (Mora), a native
Paraguayan, and Claudette (Mora), a native Brazilian, pioneered the
Evangelical Methodist Community in Paraguay in 1988. Previously
they served as Methodist pastors in Brazil for (15) years. They
also planted and pastored the Central Methodist Church in Asuncion.
Pablo (Mora) is now the president of the Paraguayan Methodist
Church and oversees 27 congregations. Claudette (Mora) directs the
Bible Institute which trains national pastors.”
Stains talked with The Era last year about his more than 30
years of mission work in Third World Latin American countries,
including Paraguay. He said the Western Pennsylvania Conference of
United Methodist Churches has been doing mission work in Paraguay
since the 1980s. Stains has been on the front lines since the
beginning, helping to provide shelter, food, clean water, health
care, education and spiritual sustenance to the needy there.
The Moras have seen first-hand the difference church volunteers
can make in Paraguay, which is considered one of the world’s
poorest nations -ða large percentage of the country’s population
living in municipal dumps, Stains said last year.
Bishop Mora spoke of the extreme poverty in Paraguay, adding he
was excited about a new mission project under way there. The
Methodist Church is helping to erect a sewing center to teach the
women there how to support themselves and their young children. The
sewing center will be vital to the families in that area, he
said.
Claudette Mora also mentioned the great economic difference
between Paraguay and the United States, saying the mission work
there is a terrific expression of Christian unity. Working together
and eating together allows the two cultures to form a bond.
Do they find the language barrier makes work difficult?
“The language of love surpasses those differences,” Claudette
Mora said, adding the mission workers learn a little Spanish from
the natives as the natives learn a little English from the
Americans.
“It can be fun if you let it be,” she said.
The Moras said church services in Paraguay are very similar to
those in America, but because the church’s presence is still so
new, most of the members of the congregation are less than 30-years
old. As a result, services take on a more contemporary nature –
with music, singing and dancing.
This August, members of congregations from the Bradford Cluster
of United Methodist Churches will accompany Stains to Paraguay to
resume mission work there. Stains went on to say Sunday that a new
seminary library and the sewing center are both on the plate for
this summer.
